


The War Without

by purrdri



Series: Spirits of Steel and Light [1]
Category: Warframe
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, hell yeah tenno!, psa that if you don't respect bird's pronouns I'm going to come to your house and spoil your milk, spoilers for main quests
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-16
Updated: 2019-05-28
Packaged: 2019-08-03 00:24:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 5,347
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16315547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/purrdri/pseuds/purrdri
Summary: Her name is Cortana, and she is in over her head.Or: Scenes that the main quests just don't cover. Beware, lots of spoilers ahead for most of Warframe's story quests. Also beware the self-indulgent nonsense.Now with additional Operators!





	1. dream not of what you are

**Author's Note:**

> Cortana is 19 in this fic. There had to be plenty of time passing while those kids were floating around in the Void, right?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Surrounds the events of The Second Dream.
> 
> Who is this Operator, after all?

Her name is Cortana.

She knows this because it is scratched in the wall of the pod where she dreams. Memories of her eyes fluttering open occasionally, brushing past the words “you are Cortana” before she closes her eyes again and remembers she is Volt or Gara or Saryn race through her head once she _wakes up_ and she berates herself for not listening, never listening, even then.

Her name is Cortana.

She knows this because “I’ll always love you, Cortana” is the last thing her mother whispers into her hair before casting her out of their room, a violent tremor overcoming her seconds after the deadbolt is forced into place. Screams follow the girl out into the hallway.

Her name is Cortana.

She knows this because it is a fight every day to get Ordis to say it, to just _once_ call her Cortana instead of Operator, because goddammit is wanting to hear her own name and be reminded of her humanity too much to ask?

Her name is Cortana.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Some images of Cortana are here](https://imgur.com/a/eUGhiqM) if you'd like to see her!


	2. so beautiful to behold

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Takes place sometime after The Sacrifice.
> 
> Both Cortana and Umbra are tormented. They do their best to resolve this.

Cortana wakes up in Umbra's arms, held tightly to his chest and unable to see anything past the light-absorbing fabric of his scarf. His fingers gently run through her hair, occasionally catching. The Warframe's hunched-over body is trembling. She is shocked still.

She takes a moment to review her memories, and she remembers…

_being on the Plains of Eidolon, exploring a cave. Mining ores, killing the handful of Grineer who’d foolishly trapped themselves inside with her. Emerging from the ground with alarm; it’s dark and she doesn’t have her good Amp, will she be able to make it back to Cetus in time? A blue pillar of light closer than she’d like it to be, surrounded by glowing wisps. Tormented cries growing louder with every step. Stepping out of Umbra’s Warframe, both of them dashing as quickly as they can towards Cetus. An impact knocking her into the air with a cloud of dust. Unable to concentrate enough to use Transference in time, she’s flying, flying, flying_

**_CRACK_**

She tests her fingers experimentally. They’re fine. Toes work too. Silently, she thanks whatever deities are listening for the Void granting her fast healing.

As she rouses, he sits bolt upright. His hands wrench themselves from her hair and he sets her down as gently as he can, letting her scoot back rapidly. The Warframe himself stands up, body still shaking. She knows something is wrong. Why are they not inside the walls of Cetus yet? Are they still on the Plains-wait, is it daytime? How long was she out?

A hand reaches out to him, gently, slowly, so as not to scare the Warframe away.

She closes her eyes and projects her consciousness towards Umbra, and the memory washes over her like a tsunami.

_A beautiful sunny day. My son, much younger, leaping from branch to branch of a pale tree. He stretches his arms out to reach the next branch. He can't stretch far enough, and he hits the ground with a sickening crack and a high-pitched wail that abruptly cuts out._

_I sprint to my son's side, gathering his body in my arms, wrapping them around him, supporting his neck, and I howl as loudly as I can. Dax guards come running; together we carry my son to the healers._

When she awakens from the memory, Umbra is still save for his quivering hands.

Her hand gently grips his shoulder. Cortana feels the Warframe lean into the touch, barely, but it is all the encouragement she needs to wrap the much taller Umbra in a hug.

He remains still at first before relaxing gradually. Umbra extracts his arms from the Tenno's embrace and wraps them around her.

“I'm okay,” she says into his neck. He nods. She opens her mouth, hesitates, and closes it. Umbra inclines his head.

“Are you? Okay, I mean.” she asks.

Umbra shakes his head gently. She hugs him tighter.

“Will you be?”

He shrugs, then pulls out of the embrace. Cocking his head, he points at the Tenno and makes a motion with his hands that she can’t quite interpret, but Cortana takes a guess.

She barks out a laugh. “Will I be okay later?” The Operator pauses to make sure that's what Umbra means; when he nods she offers him a small but genuine smile.

“I don't know either,” she says, leaning closer to the Warframe. “Got a lot on my shoulders.”

He stands up suddenly, scooping her off the ground and putting the young Tenno on his own shoulders.

She laughs again, more enthusiasm in it this time. “You too, huh?”

Umbra nods diligently. He kneels back down, carefully, and helps her back onto solid ground. She Transfers back into his Warframe.

They make the blessedly short trek back to Cetus; Cortana realizes the sun had only just come up. She waves at the handful of people she knows, and she and Umbra make the journey back to the Orbiter in relative peace.

As soon as they’re back on the ship, she Transfers out of Umbra’s body. Ordis doesn’t wait for her to get her bearings before he begins talking in his most alarmed voice.

“Operator, is everything alright? You blacked out for quite a while there!”

Her voice is more tired than she’d like it to be as she says “I’m alright, Ordis; Umbra took care of me.”

“Ordis wishes you would not rely so much on that _ONCE-MURDEROUS_ -unusual Warframe-”

Umbra puts a hand on the hilt of his sword, and Cortana cuts the Cephalon off right there. “Ordis, I’m inside Umbra’s mind. I know what he’s thinking. If he did want to harm me, I’d know about it. He doesn’t. I’m safe. If that ever changes, you’ll be the first to know.”

“Understood, Operator. However, please keep a closer eye on the clock next time you are out on the Plains.” Ordis’ voice seems almost meek, and Cortana takes this as a victory.

She writes in her journal for a while, detailing the events of that recent incursion onto the Plains while laying on her stomach next to a meditating Excalibur Umbra. When she finishes, she turns to the Warframe and waits for him to be done.

Some time passes. Umbra’s hands begin to shake, and she wraps her arms around him again. For a time, the only noises on the Orbiter are that of the ship’s engines humming and the Somachord in her personal quarters playing its tunes. If Cortana closes her eyes, she can picture the little hologram of Octavia dancing above the music player.

“Umbra? Can I...tell you something? It might make you feel better, might make you feel worse, but I feel like it needs to be said.” she says.

He looks at her, head inclined. She gathers her strength.

“Our situations were kind of reversed.” Cortana’s voice comes after a moment, quietly. “On the ship…” She pauses, a tear rolling down her face in the silence. Umbra wipes it off with his scarf and waits patiently for her to continue.

“Dad went first. Mom was sick longer, but Dad… it happened a lot quicker with him. He got this look in his eyes all of a sudden, and he lunged at Mom, and she was my mom and I didn’t know what was happening and I…” Her voice trails off. More tears collect in the dark folds of the Warframe’s scarf.

There is a moment of silence before she continues. “I… I have a name for it now. Void Blast, the Lotus called it.”

An arm wraps around her shoulders as she cries soundlessly into his side. She tires herself out eventually, and even though she doesn’t normally need to sleep, she drifts off dreamlessly.

When she wakes up, Umbra is nowhere to be seen-his scarf, however, is balled up underneath her head like a pillow.


	3. we reached for knowledge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A reaction to completing the Cephalon Fragments.
> 
> Cortana is hurt and confused, and Ordis faces the brunt of her emotions as usual.

When Ordis rebooted after a routine system maintenence, it was to the vague sound of crying.

“Operator? Is everything alright?” he asked, voice echoing compassion through the ship. He looked through every camera aboard the ship, yet he could not find the Operator. The closest he’d heard the sound of Cortana’s tears from had been within the navigation room, but there was no trace of her-

Unless…

He turned on the temperature filter and found a warm spot, rapidly cooling down, in the corner towards the Codex desk.

“Operator, if something is troubling you...I know I am just a bug-addled Cephalon, but I _WILL DESTROY YOUR ENEMIES_ \- listen to whatever is troubling you happily,” he said gently.

That brought a choked burst of laughter forth from the Operator. She uncloaked herself but left her face buried in her hands. “Ordis, I… I’ve been looking for fragments of your memories,” she confessed.

This didn’t come as much of a surprise to Ordis; he’d been aware of this for some time. It was nice of her to come out and say it, though.

“Ordis appreciates your efforts to make him whole again,” he replied.

Cortana sniffled. “That’s how it started out, but then I was messing around in the Codex and I found something I wasn’t supposed to hear.”

If the Cephalon had a body, it would have seized up.

“Is the Operator saying what Ordis thinks the Operator is saying?” he asked, carefully, stealing a glance at the Codex desk and the Lotus noggle placed on top of it.

Cortana nodded once, slowly. “The hidden messages in the memory fragments. I know who you were.”

The ship's lights flickered.

“Ordis… I… regret keeping secrets from the Operator,” confessed the Cephalon. “Truly I do. Would the Operator like me to self-destruct? Ordis would completely understand. Allow me to initiate the self-”

“Ordis, stop!”

Ordis stopped.

“Just… did you mean it?”

The Cephalon offered Cortana absolutely nothing. “Mean… what, Operator?” She got the feeling he was being intentionally cagey.

Cortana threw her hands up away from her face and sighed. “Fuck's sake, Ordis! I don't think I ask you for much.”

“Actually-” Ordis started. Cortana shot a deadly glare with bloodshot eyes upwards. “Apologies, Operator.”

“Set course for Cetus,” mumbled the Operator, standing up and making her way back to the arsenal module. Ordis couldn't shake the feeling he'd said something wrong.


	4. strength of spirit could overcome

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Post-Chimera Prologue.
> 
> Dreams haunt the Operator, dreams of Sentients and allies-turned-enemies. Here, she begins to heal.

A breath in, giving and sustaining. A breath out, deep and calming. A firm hand on her back, reassuring and comforting.

It’d been a while since the dreams were this bad. Cortana hadn’t woken up in a cold sweat and a panic since she’d seen the face coming out of Natah-Lotus’ body. Something about the Sentients haunted her; reminded her of the way her mother and father had been unnaturally twisted by the Void. The sight of Ballas had always unnerved her, but now it was so much worse. A part of her was certain she’d have to face him again, but the rest was busy doing her best to repress his twisted Sentient form from her memory.

It wasn’t working well.

She took another deep breath in, this time holding the dusty fabric of her scarf to her face. It needed to be washed, she realized, but in this moment the smell helped anchor her to the present. She was on the Orbiter, in her bed. She was safe.

A voice, quiet and caring. “Operator, are you alright?”

Cortana sat up; Ordis gently turned up the lights. He still remembered how much time she needed to recover. Of course he did, she mused, he was a creature of light and memory and his primary function was to care for her and her ship.

“Ordis, what time is it?” she asked in lieu of answering the Cephalon’s question.

“Oh-six-hundred Earth time,” he replied. She ran a hand through her hair but pulled it away in disgust. Her scarf wasn’t the only thing that needed to be washed.

In the bathroom next to her bedroom, she heard the water in the shower turn on. “Ordis has taken the liberty of preparing a hot shower for the Operator,” said the ship’s Cephalon.

Cortana smiled faintly and peeled herself out of bed, tossing her Ostron-made blanket to the side. She’d grown incredibly fond of the blanket; it’d been made for her by a wonderfully talented weaver in Cetus out of some kind of fiber imported from a colony on Europa or something.

She took a shower, barely below scalding temperature, and spent more time than strictly necessary scrubbing at her skin until it was raw and red from the heat and the friction. Ordis let the music from the Somachord stream through the bathroom; the Cephalon, thoughtful as ever, played her favorite of the songs she’d found on her travels. It was the music she’d found from scanning fragments on Ceres, and it was the same music she associated with waking up from  _ the second dream _ the Lotus had pulled her out of.

Despite everything, Cortana realized she missed the Lotus. Missed having some semblance of a mother around. She shook her head as if to rid herself of the thought.

As the music picked up a third time, she shivered. “Ordis, can you please turn the Somachord off?”

“Of course, Operator,” Ordis obliged. Cortana rinsed her hair out a final time and turned the water off. She pulled her towel off the rack where it was hanging next to the shower and shook her hair dry.

When she redressed herself in a set of clean loose, flowing pajamas, she clambered back into bed. Ordis dimmed the lights for her as soon as she’d settled in.

“Operator?” said Ordis.

“Mm?”

“I hope you have better dreams this time,” he said, after a brief hesitation.

“G’night, Ordis.”

“Goodnight, sweet Operator.”


	5. the bones you're looking for

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Takes place after Saya's Vigil but before The Second Dream. Despite every name and pronoun used this is still Cortana, just...unaware.
> 
> A Volt Warframe feels the need for a change.

The faint noise of a city grows increasingly louder as the Tenno approaches the stairs leading up to Cetus. This is his first time in a city; he is used to Grineer marching or Corpus chatter or Infested howling, not human bustle. It unnerves him, but he walks on.

Volt has encountered many other Warframes on his travels but not once has he encountered the one he’s here for today. Rumors of a fallen glass-wielding warrior have reached the Grineer, and the Lotus is sure this is a Warframe. So it is on her orders that he steps nimbly up the stairs towards the giant doors at the end of Cetus proper.

“Swazo-lah, surah!” he hears. “Display your love with a streak of vermillion!” shouts a vendor. Children laugh and play, darting around his feet. He is almost knocked over by a black-and-white Kavat but manages to catch himself at the last minute. He is usually more careful than this, but everything about Cetus, about the Ostrons, is new to him.

And then he makes eye contact with a man. Older, balding, dressed in comfortable clothes and holding a...staff? Harpoon? Volt isn’t sure. He is surrounded by many bodies, both Tenno and Ostron, but there is a spark in the man’s eye that Volt realizes he would be stupid to ignore.

He makes his way towards the man, gently bumping through the crowd until he is right next to him.

“Swazdo-lah, offworlder!” he says, and as he gives Volt a canned speech about the Grineer pushing their way towards Cetus and is he handy with a gun or blade, he stops, squinting at the Volt’s helmet. “Too much going on, Tenno?” Volt nods, though he isn’t sure how the man managed to figure this out. He sweeps an arm out and declares it is his lunchtime. When Volt turns to walk away, he hears a voice. “Where do you think you’re going, offworlder? Come with Konzu.”

So the Warframe follows the old man, Konzu, who makes his way to a hut.

“Come in, Tenno.” Konzu offers him a seat and Volt takes it. He explains to Volt how the bounties here work, keeping his voice at a low and generally manageable volume. Volt nods at the appropriate places, and when the Ostron’s speech is done, he asks if Volt would be interested in working for him.

The Warframe takes a moment to think, and nods.

Konzu grins then, and stands up using his pole-harpoon-staff-thing as support. “Right this way, offworlder! Let’s see if we can’t find you something to do.”

Volt spends a week on Earth helping the Ostrons with their Grineer problem day after day. At night he avoids the Plains entirely, playing guard for Old Man Sumbaat’s wares for a few credits and some stories. Nakak tells him about the horrors of the Eidolons, and he amuses her by putting her tiny masks meant for humans on his relatively large helmet.

He keeps an ear to Grineer radio frequencies listening for more mentions of the glass warrior, but hears absolutely nothing.

Then one day Konzu pulls him aside. Asks him if he’s met Saya.

Volt dives headfirst into the affairs of Konzu and Saya, helping her open the coffer. He is as surprised as she is to find the blueprint for the Warframe that both he and the Lotus were sure the Grineer had by this point.

With the materials he’s gathered from all his trips out onto the Plains doing bounties, constructing Gara is trivial. And as soon as he adds her Warframe to the Orbiter’s arsenal, Ordis knows there is something different about this one. Something special.

“Operator, would you like me to _PULL THE LEVER_  - transfer your signal into this Warframe?” he asks Volt as soon as Gara’s Warframe is finished.

Volt nods, and the next thing he knows he is Gara.

Stretching her limbs, she casts a stream of glass through the Orbiter to Ordis’ dismay. If she had a mouth, she would have laughed.

This felt right. Whole. She felt almost like herself-

_you are Cortana_

“Operator, are you alright? Your connection went dark for a moment.” Gara nods slowly, as confused as to what just happened as Ordis is. She doesn’t remember a thing besides transferring into her new Warframe.. “Exercise caution in this new Warframe until you are more used to it,” the Cephalon says. Another nod from Gara, this one more assured. She heads to navigation and sets a course for Hellas on Mars, intent on showing the Grineer what her new Warframe is capable of.


	6. who you really are

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is probably the one chapter you could read without knowledge of canon, if you didn't mind spoilers. It is also Very Short. Takes place sometime after Chains of Harrow and The Sacrifice, but right before Chimera Prologue. Written to fulfill a creative prompt on a pet site.
> 
> What was once just an occasional occurrence has become routine for Cortana.

She’s in the middle of washing her face before bed when she looks in the mirror and sees her eyes, red and glowing, staring directly at her no matter where she looks.

“Hey, kiddo.”

She flinches when the words come out of the Man in the Wall’s mouth even though she’s expecting them. “What do you want?” she asks quietly, knowing full well it is in her mind and can hear her thinking  _ oh god leave me alone I don’t have the energy for this it was such a long day I just want to sleep. _

Cortana’s had more than her fair share of experience with this Man in the Wall. Since he was first described to her he’s been haunting her dreams. Not as much as  _ others _ but a significant portion of her nightmares feature it. And she’s seen it around the ship occasionally since then, usually only messing with the Orbiter’s foundry. It seems to like touching the holograms that are created as things are being constructed.

_ What pronoun do you use for a poltergeist?  _ she wonders as the Man in the Wall opens its mouth unnaturally wide and laughs at her.

“Just came to check up on you, kiddo,” it says, raising a hand where she can see it and waving its fingers, shaped like hers but so much longer. It disappears with the haunting echo of a laugh.

She doesn't see it again for months after that, though she hears it laughing mostly at night. Her next sighting of it is right after she's returned from a trip to the Plains, exhausted and covered in blood that is only mostly not her own. She takes a long, hot shower, music streaming into the bathroom, and when she gets dressed the music cuts off completely.

"Hello?" she calls out. For once, there is no response.

She makes the unwise decision to run directly to her room and finds it there, laughing and wearing _her_ helmet. She darts towards it, arms extended, desperate to rip it off a head that looks like her own but with those piercing red eyes, when it disappears. The helmet clinks onto its pedestal.

Arm still extended, Cortana reaches out to touch it-

-and falls forward, meeting the Void.


	7. by your hand

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Takes place right after The Second Dream.
> 
> Some interactions between Cotana and her best friend.

_A piece of paper pokes out underneath an Ayatan sculpture. It is covered with messy, crooked handwriting that seems to have been written in different sittings. Music notes are scribbled in the margins._

It’s been a long week.

All I’ve been able to think about since I realized they were safe and alive has been Bird. My best friend, my partner in crime. I’ve missed them so much!

And now they’re okay, and they remember, they’re awake, and things aren’t Okay yet but they will be soon.

I’m pretty sure the first thing they did when they woke up was contact me because they sounded so shaky. So little. Can’t help but think about when we met. Feels a lot like that did.

How long has it been since I’ve been awake? A few weeks? Month and a half, probably. That’s the longest I’ve ever been without Bird since I’ve seen them and I’ve missed them so much but they’ll think that’s lame. So I can’t say that. Not at first.

Oop okay we’re approaching Cetus now.

* * *

 

_A video recording from a camera aboard Cortana’s Orbiter, kept locked away in Cephalon Ordis’ memory files._

A pair of figures enter the ship, one’s arm slung easily around the other’s shoulders. The slightly shorter one seems exasperated, the dark-haired taller one mumbles something about “Bird in a Zephyr, you can’t tell me that’s not ironic,” and the shorter light-haired one rolls their eyes.

The dark-haired one yanks the scarf away from her face and shakes a hand through her hair, somatic scars briefly exposed before her hair covers them again. “I got you a present too. Sort of. Okay, it’s more like I made you a present, and this is the only time you’ll ever hear it probably, so take those earpieces off. Don’t want your hearing obscured.” She waggles a finger.

“Cortana, will you please get on with it?” asks Bird, obligingly removing their earpieces. Cortana sighs.

She opens her mouth and starts to sing, alto voice resonating through the ship. A gentle tune plays on the Somachord as she sings.

_“Descended from the moon and stars_   
_The Tenno, with their guns and arms_   
_And it was simple, you and me_   
_We had to fight to become free_   
_First Sentients, then Orokin fell_   
_For both of them we sound no knell_   
_Together we could face the world_   
_A pair of heroes, our path unfurled_   
_Our time to sleep would soon draw near_   
_A little faith, a lot of fear_   
_We were lost, once_   
_We’re found again_   
_Together, forever and ever,_   
_friends.”_

As her song drew to a close, Cortana buried her face in her hands. “I know it’s shit,” she said, “but I didn’t have too long to put it together and-”

Bird cut her off by enveloping her in an unexpected hug. “The acoustics on this ship are horrible,” they said matter-of-factly before presenting her with a box.

The dark-haired girl tapped it curiously before ripping it open. She took a second to observe the contents, and then…

Cortana’s face cracked open in a massive grin. “Thanks for the wiggly dick sculpture,” she said, clinging to Bird.

Eventually, the other Tenno pulled back. “I think we have some plans to make,” they said. Cortana nodded and stood up, offering a hand to her friend to help them up. They didn’t take it, and Cortana pouted but led the way to the starmap.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HEY GUYS DID YOU MISS ME 
> 
> I took a hiatus from Warframe for a few months, and while I missed the entirety of Nightwave Series One I've been plotting with my Warframe-playing friends about our Operators!
> 
> I've got a couple of written stories to upload today, featuring Cortana as always, and [my friend Doragon's](https://aconfusedbird.tumblr.com/) operator Bird! 
> 
> I've also made a Warframe Tumblr! While there's nothing actually on it right now ( :'D ) you can find it [here!](https://starborncortana.tumblr.com/)


	8. your war

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Takes place directly after The Second Dream and realistically I should have put this chapter before the last one but here we are.
> 
> This is written in first person!

Operator’s log. Hell if I know the current date.

My first memories in—how long had it been? Months, even years?—were shaky feet and cold arms. It’s admittedly hard to operate a Warframe while you’re focused on actual senses that you haven’t experienced in  _forever_. Gara deposited me—I deposited myself, I suppose?—in the somatic link and I took a deep breath of recycled air.

 _This is who you really are. You are Cortana,_  I reminded myself.

The Lotus and I spoke face to face for the first time. When she was gone, I slumped back in my seat and closed my eyes. So much sensory input! Everything I saw and heard was overwhelming. Thankfully Ordis didn’t seem to feel the need to talk.

I let myself stay like that for a while. Eyes closed, breathing deeply in and out, until I felt okay again. Opening my eyes, I looked around. I didn’t trust my legs to carry me around the ship; I barely knew how to use them. So instead I settled for using my hands and fingers and eyes to explore every inch of the somatic link. It’d been so long since I got to feel something with hands made of flesh and blood and bone and it felt  _incredible._

I got to the floor of the link and saw a black cylinder just…sitting there. It looked out of place. Naturally I touched it; it seemed able to move freely so I picked it up. It…was a pen?

I took the pen in my hand and wondered idly how long it’d been since I’d actually used one and how one had ended up on my orbiter in this somatic link I’d never been in before. On the back of my hand, I scribbled furiously.

_From now on, what’s waited til tomorrow starts tonight._

See, the second my ass hit that chair, I got hit with memories. What did you think I was thinking about with my eyes closed? I can’t tell my brain to shut off.

Memories of a familiar face on a ship, their hands squeezed as tightly as I was capable of grabbing. Bird.

A kind face I trusted to always have my back. Katja.

And a grinning face who was the only person I knew that had more energy than I did. Hazard.

Wait ew something’s in my eyes…no I. I guess I’m just crying. Okay.

_[Cortana yawns.]_

I’m going to sleep, I think. But first thing tomorrow?

I find them all.

* * *

 

_[The recording starts off with the sound of sniffling.]_

Operator’s log. It’s been exactly seventeen hours and three minutes since my last entry. I’m still not sure what day it is.

I tried—well, started trying—the usual frequencies today.

Bird’s was first obviously. It…

_[A shuddering exhale.]_

It was their voice. Definitely. I’d know them anywhere. But they sure as fuck didn’t know me.

_[She barks out a halting laugh. A different voice sounds-it’s a new recording.]_

“This is a private frequency, who is this? What do you want from me?”

“Bird!!!”

“Yeah, very funny, I’m a Zephyr. State your business or get off this frequency.”

“No, I mean-your name is Bird, dude, it’s me, it’s Corta-”

“Goodbye.”  _Click._

_[There’s a moment of soft crying before the log cuts off.]_

* * *

 

Operator’s log!

_[Cortana’s voice is borderline giddy.]_

I got a message today. It’s Bird, they’re awake, they want to meet on Cetus today. Well. Originally they said tomorrow but I talked them into meeting me today!

I gotta go. Gonna shower.

_[Her voice begins to fade out.]_

Holy shit, Ordis, Bird’s back!

_[The log cuts off after a minute or so of mostly silence.]_


	9. guided by ghosts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Ropalolyst fight from Cortana's perspective.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, uh.
> 
> Ouch.
> 
> O u c h.

It was their usual four-man squad.

Cortana as Gara, Bird as Zephyr, Hazard as Mesa, and Lance as Trinity. After their first fight against Alad V's Amalgams, none of them knew what exactly to expect when it came to the much larger monster they'd heard rumors of.

As they landed on Jupiter's surface, Cortana grabbed her Arca Plasmor and fired off a test shot into a nearby barrel. It worked just fine, as she knew it would, and shrapnel went flying all around the landing pad.

"Oh dear," Ordis said, and then: "Incoming transmission, Operators; it's from  _THE SENTIENT BETRAYER_ \-- the Lotus."

Cortana blinked, paused where she stood, and cleared her throat. "Patch her through one-sided. I don't want her hearing us, but if she has something to say..."

The familiar face flickered in on the side of her display. It took more of Cortana's strength than she wanted to admit to keep herself from crying.

"Our history is smoke. Blurred by dreams, guided by ghosts."

Around her, Bird stopped hard in their tracks, Hazard let out a soft "oh", and Lance didn't visibly respond.

Looking closer at the Lotus' face in the display, Cortana realized it was segmented and she shuddered. Body horror had never been easy for her to deal with.

"A Voice, a Void, lurks inside you, its purpose not yet shown."

A frustrated Cortana started sprinting down the halls of the Gas City. She didn't look back to see if the others were behind her; she knew they'd follow eventually.

Taunting her as she ran, the Sentient-Lotus continued. "But what am I?"

There was a blessed pause.

"My father was a farmer. My mother, a carpenter. Given light by the Golden Lords to build for them... a better world. But my family's journey was long. Time began to change their light. Creativity. Pride. A will to live."

 _shut up shut up shut up_ Cortana thought violently, shooting Corpus as she continued on. Natah kept talking as she ran; behind her, the sound of Hazard's shooting echoed. 

"So the Golden Wrath came. And after, I was born. A mimic, a spy. Conceived to burrow into nests and swallow the pitch-eggs of their war machine. The Tenno."

Cortana tripped, then, and fell on the floor. She walked herself back into a corner while Corpus swarmed her; she shot them angrily but it was too much. Too much until Bird's Vectis gunshots rang out down the hall she was in. A pipe next to her blew up, overwhelming the Corpus.

"But when I saw your tender faces, I took mercy. Or so we were told."

Lance spun around the corner then, grabbing her arm and pulling her up onto her feet. The four ran on together.

Hazard delivered her Redeemer directly into a MOA's little head, and Natah continued speaking.

"But in truth, we were all imprisoned in Lua's belly. My light remade by the creators. I became a memory, a ghost. Reprogrammed to destroy my family, my people, my history."

Cortana, shaking, stopped. "You want to tell me about destroying your family, Natah? Hmm? Your family is undying, you have that! I have the memory of how my father's bones crumpled under my fist as I used this stupid voidy voicey power shit to kill him!" She Transferred out of her Warframe just for the satisfaction of yanking on her own hair.

Lance turned around the second she stopped and grabbed her fragile arm in his Trinity's hardened skin when she finished talking. "We're almost there, Cortana, we-"

Something roared.

The squad rushed to the door in time to watch a giant flying Sentient tear at a reactor and disable it. Blue light washed over all of them, then faded quickly in favor of sparks.

"But now, I am saved. By family. Together we will overcome the flaws of our light, the Gods of our creation..."

Cortana roared then, leaping across the chasm in front of her and sliding across the floor.

"...merging with them, like steel..."

A Corpus crewman lifted his gun to fire at her; she obliterated him with a blast from her shotgun before he could touch the trigger.

"...bearing Amalgams with the weakness of neither."

With Natah's last words, the four made their way onto an elevator. Hazard slammed her fist into the button that would take them down.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi folks, thanks for reading my self-indulgent Operator headcanon fic! I've been super obsessed with Warframe's story lately and these ideas wouldn't leave me alone.
> 
> If you enjoyed this fic so far or want to scream at me about Warframe, drop me a line-my Tumblr is purrdri and my Warframe Tumblr is starborncortana! If you want to play Warframe with me, my IGN is OfficialEspurr and I'd love if you sent me a friend request because having friends makes me feel special. ovo


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